Josh Duggar Admits to Molestation Rumors - Part 2

[jinseng]

I thought Amy was raised in Fayetteville (not Lafayette)... which is the district across from Springdale. Amy went to the public school which backed onto the Johnston St house, where the assaults were reported to have taken place. I remember Amy talking once about how she'd sneak through the school fence at lunchtime to visit the Duggars?

I know a lot about Gothard culture, and can say that 'sleep overs' at other kids houses were strictly forbidden, unless the families were EXTREMELY close. Gothard believed sleep overs would leave your kids vulnerable to assault, and outside worldly influences. This makes me think the 5th victim would have been someone very close to the Duggars, like Query or Holt, otherwise he would not have been there at someone else's house having a sleep over.

[karen77]

Well, I heard from a friend (who works there) that they will be discussing this on the Sirius XM Jenny McCarthy show today. I told her to google BIll Gothard and look at that connection, but we'll see if I was in time (we are on opposite coasts).

[ariel9]

I have a lot of thoughts on this. I will try to be coherent. I have watched the Duggars throughout the years and they have always seemed to be the perfect family. This got me to thinking that it was no way they could be that perfect. I come from a small household and I do not like everyone all of the time,the sheer numbers of that family make liking everyone all the time impossible for them. Another thing is that they have their questions very well screened. They have never truly been asked a pressing question or told that they have failed to answer the question at hand. At this point I think as viewers of the show we could just about answer the questions they get because well it is so staged.

In addition, I find issue with Josh's apology. I think it speaks to everything that is wrong with rape culture. I think our culture seems to fixate on rape ruining the males life. He says that if this kept happening he could ruin his life.Is this because if he kept doing this he would do it to the wrong person and they would actually press charges? What about his sisters? They have to be experiencing something awful. I mean the people who they are supposed to trust the most hurt them.They have to deal with all of this on top of all of the other abuse. I mean put it together people. They were blanket trained as infants, neglected as toddlers, molested, forced to raise their parents children, not given a true education, and made into baby factories in their adulthood.I mean did the married ones even get to talk to their prospective husbands about the abuse since we all know that they were denied the chance to speak to them in private. I mean that is a big issue to keep to yourself or even heal in order to have a functional relationship. I really hope that those girls get the help that they need. I know that I am not a psychiatrist but now a lot of their personalities make sense. I would really want them to get deprogrammed from the brainwashing and go on to have healthy relationships that value them for more than having a vagina.

I also highly doubt Josh told Anna about his past. I mean in these circles image is everything. How did Josh know that he could tell the Kellers without them telling the rest of ATI? Maybe the molestation could be a reason why Jim Bob married his girls off to outsiders because the fundie royalty saw them as tainted goods (I know its awful). Could it also be possible as to why their wedding dresses were not totally white?

Another thing that irks me is that Josh went around writing out passes to hell for many years, yet expects forgiveness for a teenage mistake. No one in this discussion forum can say with honestly that they have lived a life that the Duggars would be ok with.A teenage mistake is missing curfew, skipping school, or perhaps lying about where you have been but touching your sisters is just wrong.

As for the show that is a hard one. On one hand you want it cancelled because you do not want to support a child molester, but on the other hand you want to keep an eye on the family and have the children monitored and provided for. I mean what happens when the family disappears into obscurity and the money drives up? I think a situation like that would bring out the worst in most people especially those without a true means of supporting themselves.

[brigittesniper]

So I've slept on this, and I've come back with a few thoughts.

1) Certain stuff that Josh has said throughout the series have been rolling around in my mind, the most notable of which being the 'talk' that he had with Jim Bob the night before his wedding. He said something along the lines of 'I think I've worked out what happens, it's like Lego, right?', and that's been making me feel sick to my stomach.

2) Those poor girls, I feel even more protective of them than I did before, I genuinely want to help them in some way. I echo some similar statements above; if they want to come and stay with a British deist for a while they are more than welcome. I just want to make sure they're okay.

3) The Duggar children are all victims here. Josh deserves to be condemned for what we did, but we should also remember that ALL of these children (at least the older ones) were blanket trained, hit with rods, and emotionally abused throughout their childhood and adolescence. ALL of them deserve far better than Boob and Mullet. My hearts honestly go out to all of them (5 oldest girls in particular).

4) In a lot of ways I don't want the show to be cancelled. I genuinely care about a lot of them, the older ones in particular (minus Josh obv), and I feel that their lives are gonna get a lot worse once the Duggar cash cow runs out of milk. Also, I care about what's going on in their lives, and a very selfish and voyeuristic part of me wants to keep up with what's going on, despite how fake and scripted the show has been lately.

I don't have much more to add right now, I'm just so shellshocked and I hope those poor women are okay.

[bluebird]

The leg humpers who are assisting the Duggars with the minimization of Josh's *mistake* are a sad commentary of the thinking patterns of a good chunk of America. When my kids were little and went to friends homes to play I always asked the parents if there were guns in the home and if so how they were stored, etc. If I knew then what I know now I would have also asked if the home was under patriarchal rule.

[bekkah]

TMZ has several posts about the Duggars up.

This is the article with Mama June

http://www.tmz.com/2015/05/22/mama-june ... -counting/

Josh Duggar admits....

http://www.tmz.com/2015/05/21/josh-dugg ... adid=hero1

And lastly Oprah

http://www.tmz.com/2015/05/22/oprah-can ... -counting/

I love reading the TMZ comments, its like an interesting study of human behavior over there! Enjoy the crazies, defenders and personal stories. There will be more DIRT that comes to light and maybe even a GOTHARD story!

[JHeathen]

Someone upthread speculated that perhaps Smuggar knew this news was going to hit. I'm gonna get on that bus :auto-swerve:

because I remember reading (was it this time last year??) that PR reps like to let scandals like this hit on the days or two before a long holiday weekend because the public tends to A: forget about it quicker and B: maaaaaaybe not even notice it in their rush to start their vacay. This had to have been PR-crafted & planned because they all had statements prepared and ready to go...Smug, Anna, and JChelle. If they were not ready and were blindsided by the hit, they probably would have hunkered down for a day or so in silence before responding. I am assuming that media outlets give them heads-ups before breaking stories like this by asking for their comments to run with the stories. And that is very likely, considering the Duggars are People Magazine's bitches lately.

[Monica Joan]

I really hope Cathy Dillard is with Jill today, and telling her this situation was not okay.

[VelociRapture]

I really hope Cathy Dillard is with Jill today, and telling her this situation was not okay.

I don't know much about Ben's family, but I hope that his mother is doing the same for Jessa. And I really hope that someone is reaching out to Jana, Jinger, and Joy. It would be nice to know that those girls are being looked after by someone who honestly cares about them.

[nellautumngirl]

I knew about those rumors, but I never for one second thought they were true :( I even defended Josh on a few occasions, saying that besides everything wrong with him, he obviously loves his children and siblings. Oh god, how horrible.

I thought the girls were often gloomy because of their upbringing and their boring, strictly organized lifes. I didn't think something like that could be the reason :cry:

Also, what a shitty situation for the "unaffected" siblings to be in, especially the boys. They all seem like normal, sweet kids but I wonder if JB and Michelle were suspicious and extra hard on them after what Josh did. And Josiah, who seems to look up to Josh so much, I wonder if he knew prior to this?

And lastly, Michelle, seriously? You have the nerve to lie about the dangers transgender people are to children all while protecting your oldest son from police for exactly the same crime? This shouldn't come as a surprise, they are the biggest hypocrites on earth, but every last bit of sympathy I ever had for them is gone now, I'll never muse on possible reasons for their behaviour again, they are monsters that can't be redeemed.

[jerichojones]

I just tried watching the first special again. I feel sick. Could barely get through the first few minutes and had to turn it off. Everything josh says drips of entitlement, and the girls, especially Jana seem so different, perhaps less beaten down by life. They were speculating about whether Jackson was going to be a boy or a girl, and I just had to turn it off.

I want the show cancelled because i don't want JB to think that letting Josh get away without consequences was okay. I don't want josh to think what he did was okay. I don't want it cancelled because i want to be sure those girls are okay. I want to be sure the younger ones get by. If the cameras go, it's almost a guarantee that things will go downhill for those kids.

[Zungstache]

Two things that have not been discussed here (that I have seen): First is the extent to which the media coverage is slanted in the Duggar's favor. If you poke around online, you will see that the vast majority of the coverage parrots the family line that Jim Bob found out about the behavior, put a stop to it, and then reported it to the police. Not, as some of the more in-depth reports state, that Jim Bob and Michelle knew about the behavior and said nothing to the authorities until the police (or child protective services) were contacted by an outside party. Since most viewers of the show are not as obsessed with exposing the Duggar hypocrisy as we are... most fans will just buy the party line that, while Josh's behavior was bad, Jim Bob did his duty as headship in reporting it and Josh took full responsibility for his actions. The truth does not lend itself to quick blurbs like: "Mama June is dating the molester of her daughter," which means that the full extent of the story will never gain traction... unless one of the daughters comes forward (not likely). Heck, at this point, there are so many conflicting stories out there that I am not sure that anyone has a full breakdown of exactly what happened.

Second, has anyone looked at Jim Bob's voting record in the legislature when it comes to underage sex? He was in the legislature during an era when states were passing all kinds of laws that labelled kids as sexual predators for life for all kinds of minor infractions, such as touching a sibling's privates out of curiosity or having consensual underaged sex. Were any of those bills before the legislature while he was there? How did he vote on them? I'd love to know the answers to those questions.

While we are on the topic, of sex crimes... why is nobody outraged that, apparently, all underage sex crime investigations essentially stopped because the investigating officer was charged with child pornography? Nobody else was assigned to those investigations? Were they compromised in some way that nobody is talking about? For some reason, nobody thought to continue investigations of *felony* child molestation after the officer was taken off the beat. That's probably most disturbing part of this, to me, at least. I have a suspicion that the *real* story is that the investigating officer let the case languish on his desk as a favor to Jim Bob, then the department used the fact the officer was arrested for child pornography as an excuse for the fact that nobody figured that out. I used to be a reporter, cops cover up things for their friends all the time (I'd have cops tell me all the time that some well known person in town had been arrested for DUI or domestic violence... but the police arrest reports had conveniently disappeared. In one case three officers told me that the son of the local prosecutor had been arrested for drug possession, yet nobody ever saw the arrest report).

[persephonepomegranate]

I will just never understand fundies and they're insistence on victim blaming and overlooking victims. Josh made this statement all about himself, and JB&M are going to spin this to "inspire" people to get through these type of "situations". Honestly Jana, Jinger, and Joy deserve their own cars, apartment, and to go to a college and study whatever they please where ever they please. I also hope Ben and Derick give Josh the cold shoulder if they know what Jill and Jessa had gone through. Sorry Smuggar but your years of looking down on others who don't live your lifestyle are coming back to haunt you , as John Lennon wrote "Instant Karma's gonna get you"

[ariel9]

Another thing that I was contemplating doing but have not done so far is leave a tip for TMZ. I wanted to tell them to do some research on the ATI, recovering grace (for evidence), and Bill Gothard. I mean he is a predator who runs a cult and these people support him. For crying out loud they were just there no more than a month ago taking part in conference activities and giving speeches. We always say that the tabloids read here and were told to be careful as to what we say, yet they have never picked on the ATI trail and Gothard. Another thing is while they are at it put they should 2+2 together between the rod for spanking in the police report and the blanket training book that was promoted on their previous website. If they want to go even farther they could even talk about the Vision Forum and the blatant intolerance for homosexuals through robocalls. These people are very bad people but because cute stories get published and the bad is swept under the rug things are constantly ignored. I can almost guarantee we get a the sex of the baby from Jessa to distract from all of this.

[ILoveJellybeans]

I'm just getting caught up here and my head is buzzing with so many thoughts I don't know where to start....

There's one thing driving me nuts though, and I know it's a relatively trivial point in the scheme of things, but here it is: JimBob and Michelle knew that their daughters had been sexually abused by their son. And they still kept up the overt sexual behaviour in front of them, shoving their sex lives down their throats, dry humping on golf courses and making stupid sex-oriented remarks about Jill and Jessa's evolving love lives???

On what F#%KING PLANET is that the response of a parent to the abuse of their child???!!!!

:angry-banghead: :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead:

I know, and that is one of the things that disturbs me the most about the parents reaction (after the initial covering it all up).

Why would they do that to their children? Are they deliberately trying to trigger them, its awful. It is already bad enough to be a teenager and know that your parents fuck, or introduce your parents to your new boyfriend and have them embarrass you, and I was creeped out by it for that reason at first, it just seemed so wrong. But now it is even more wrong. Can you imagine how awful it would be to have been molested, then have your parents (who knew and covered it up) make sexual jokes about you, embarrass you by talking about how youre going to have sex, and make sex jokes about eachother. Especially because sex is harder for fundie girls in the first place, youre expected to go from holding hands to fucking in just a few days, after spending your whole life being told that sex is wrong and makes your dirty, and expect to get pregnant after that. There is no place to slowly prepare for it, youre thrown in at the deep end. Just imagine how Jill and Jessa felt about that, when sexual things has been a source of anxiety and fear from being a child. Those poor girls :(

I also had a parent (well, step parent) who spoke to me in the way Jimbob does, and it was awful. He would totally creep me out and I wished I could find a way to get him to go away, but I was too scared to tell my mom. I have never been comfortable watching Jimbob's disgusting jokes, makes me shudder. And unlike his poor girls, I was not molested. He never went that far with me, just the occasional creepy hug or pulling me onto his lap as a teenager, and the time he showed me his dick when we were alone together. I cant imagine how awful it would be to listen to this shit when you've already been sexually abused by someone, and then it was covered up and your feelings were denied.

[VelociRapture]

Two things that have not been discussed here (that I have seen): First is the extent to which the media coverage is slanted in the Duggar's favor. If you poke around online, you will see that the vast majority of the coverage parrots the family line that Jim Bob found out about the behavior, put a stop to it, and then reported it to the police. Not, as some of the more in-depth reports state, that Jim Bob and Michelle knew about the behavior and said nothing to the authorities until the police (or child protective services) were contacted by an outside party. Since most viewers of the show are not as obsessed with exposing the Duggar hypocrisy as we are... most fans will just buy the party line that, while Josh's behavior was bad, Jim Bob did his duty as headship in reporting it and Josh took full responsibility for his actions. The truth does not lend itself to quick blurbs like: "Mama June is dating the molester of her daughter," which means that the full extent of the story will never gain traction... unless one of the daughters comes forward (not likely). Heck, at this point, there are so many conflicting stories out there that I am not sure that anyone has a full breakdown of exactly what happened.

Second, has anyone looked at Jim Bob's voting record in the legislature when it comes to underage sex? He was in the legislature during an era when states were passing all kinds of laws that labelled kids as sexual predators for life for all kinds of minor infractions, such as touching a sibling's privates out of curiosity or having consensual underaged sex. Were any of those bills before the legislature while he was there? How did he vote on them? I'd love to know the answers to those questions.

While we are on the topic, of sex crimes... why is nobody outraged that, apparently, all underage sex crime investigations essentially stopped because the investigating officer was charged with child pornography? Nobody else was assigned to those investigations? Were they compromised in some way that nobody is talking about? For some reason, nobody thought to continue investigations of *felony* child molestation after the officer was taken off the beat. That's probably most disturbing part of this, to me, at least.

No one is outraged because there was no initial investigation. According to the police reports, the first discussion with Police was very informal - Boob took Josh to speak with a State Trooper he knew at the Trooper's home. The Trooper warned Josh about what could happen if he kept molesting people and no report was ever written about it.

The investigation the report refers to only happened because someone wrote a letter about what happened and placed it in a book. This was forgotten about and the book was loaned out of the Duggar's Church. The letter was found and the person emailed Oprah's company (Harpo) about the molestation accusations because the Duggars were scheduled to appear on her show. Harpo then contacted Police, who opened an investigation and took statements from those involved.

[Snarkle]

Well, the media loves you on the way up, and crucifies you on the way down.

The Today Show opened with the Duggars as their second lead story tease, but waited until the second half hour into the show to do the actual report titled "Bombshell Apology."

Entertainment Weekly also picked up on the story and how TLC was running a 19 Kids marathon while the news dropped (titled "TLC airs 19 Kids and Counting marathon after Josh Duggar child molestation allegations") and that people are ticked:

ew.com/article/2015/05/22/tlc-airs-19-kids-marathon-josh-duggar-molestation

[walegaja]

And now mama june says she is going to sue TLC if the Duggars are not taken off the air: http://www.inquisitr.com/2110571/mama-j ... admission/

"Mama June Shannon of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo fame has no sympathy for Josh Duggar and his family regarding the child molestation allegations that surfaced this week. June, whose show was cancelled back in October after pictures were released of her out and about with a convicted child molester, tells TMZ she will sue her former network TLC if the Duggar clan’s beloved 19 Kids and Counting doesn’t meet the same fate.

Mama June has gone into mama bear mode, complaining that the Duggar family is receiving special treatment. According to TMZ’s report, June sees a discrepancy in how both scandals were handled considering TLC cancelled Honey Boo Boo within hours of the released photos of Mama June and Mark McDaniel, yet TLC aired new episodes of the Duggars directly following the release of a statement of admission and an apology by Josh Duggar and parents Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar.

June’s reasoning for the lawsuit is simple. Mama June’s child molester friend was never even featured on the show, yet Josh Duggar is an integral part of his. If TLC doesn’t fire Josh and the rest of the Duggar clan, Mama June says that the network is being unfair to her family and she just won’t stand for it.

Besides sharing her dismay with TMZ, June also took to Twitter to express her outrage:

...

Josh Duggar finally admitted to the sexual abuse in a released statement on Thursday after In Touch magazine released copies of the police report from 2006. Though Duggar was only 14 at the time of the abuse, it happened on multiple occasions and involved other members of the Duggar family as victims.

Josh Duggar stated that he had acted “inexcusably.†Duggar also stated that he, “sought forgiveness from those I had wronged and asked Christ to forgive me and come into my life.†The Duggar patriarch and matriarch released their own statement regarding the matter saying essentially that all families have dark struggles at some point but that “each one of our family members drew closer to God.â€

Mama June wasn’t all that impressed with the Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar’s assertion telling TMZ, “I read that the Duggar family said, this happening with their son brought them closer to God and each other. So they’re saying it’s ok to have family touch time? Hell no.â€

The irony of Mama June’s statement, of course, is the convicted child molester June was purportedly dating that got Honey Boo Boo cancelled, had been sent to jail for molesting one of June’s older daughters, suggesting she was saying that having a child molester around was okay as well.

Of course, TLC may be looking to see if the Duggars, one of their ratings juggernauts, can survive the scandal as Duck Dynasty has several times on A&E. While Mama June’s Honey Boo Boo ratings were already declining significantly prior to cancellation, 19 Kids and Counting‘s have been on the upswing. Mama June seems certain her family has just as much curb appeal as the Duggars, though some may wonder why June would want to be considered on equal ground.

What do you think? Should TLC give Mama June her show back or should Mama June sue them?

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/2110571/mama-j ... RTjb6gm.99 "

I think TLC can argue that there is a big difference between the Duggar and Honey Boo Boo situation. Honey Boo Boo involved a convicted and registered sex offender. You have to register as a sex offender because it is believed that you may still be a danger to your community. Josh Duggar was never charged or convicted for what he did, and he is certainly not a registered sex offender. Whether rightly or wrongly (definitely wrongly), the police decided that Josh was not a danger to the community nor were the claims serious enough to charge him with. Children were not even removed from the home, and the victims claimed they forgave him and felt safe living with him. If I remember, the close victim of Mama June's partner was appalled, had not forgiven him, and was disgusted at the idea of potentially being in the same room as the pedophile.

Though personally I think the show should be cancelled, I can see TLC arguing a very different perspective. The Honey Boo Boo case is not the same as Josh Duggar's.

[imokit]

Can we give cudos to Oprah's company? According to TMZ, they got the info at 6.30 am, by 2pm that day Arkansas police were contacting the Duggars.

Also if one production company (Harpo) knew (which they did as they were the ones who contacted the police), then there is no way that TLC (and discovery health who filmed Hannie's birth, post police report) did not know. TV people talk to each other. If some sneaky journalist could find the evidence that TLC knew pre series, that would probably end the whole network.

[Clementine]

Can we give cudos to Oprah's company? According to TMZ, they got the info at 6.30 am, by 2pm that day Arkansas police were contacting the Duggars.

Also if one production company (Harpo) knew (which they did as they were the ones who contacted the police), then there is no way that TLC (and discovery health who filmed Hannie's birth, post police report) did not know. TV people talk to each other. If some sneaky journalist could find the evidence that TLC knew pre series, that would probably end the whole network.

If a person who knew contacted Harpo about it, I am sure the same person contacted TCL.

When did TCL start sending the show?

[FJismyheadship]

https://m.facebook.com/supportjoshduggarsvictims

Prayers and support for all the victim's

[HereticHick]

He's fucking smiling in the video while the paparazzi are asking him to comment on the situation.

I thought those were identified as pics of the family ARRIVING in DC. So Josh could go to FRC and get his ass fired.

Or "choose to resign" as we politely say in the office world. :?

I hope that the FRC's new pants-wearing, law degree wielding lady Chief of Staff, Shannon Royce, got to do the firing: http://www.frc.org/shannonroyce

[Finduilas]

Can we give cudos to Oprah's company? According to TMZ, they got the info at 6.30 am, by 2pm that day Arkansas police were contacting the Duggars.

Also if one production company (Harpo) knew (which they did as they were the ones who contacted the police), then there is no way that TLC (and discovery health who filmed Hannie's birth, post police report) did not know. TV people talk to each other. If some sneaky journalist could find the evidence that TLC knew pre series, that would probably end the whole network.

The Bates must be really glad to have moved to another network then ...

[Zungstache]

No one is outraged because there was no initial investigation. According to the police reports, the first discussion with Police was very informal - Boob took Josh to speak with a State Trooper he knew at the Trooper's home. The Trooper warned Josh about what could happen if he kept molesting people and no report was ever written about it.

The investigation the report refers to only happened because someone wrote a letter about what happened and placed it in a book. This was forgotten about and the book was loaned out of the Duggar's Church. The letter was found and the person emailed Oprah's company (Harpo) about the molestation accusations because the Duggars were scheduled to appear on her show. Harpo then contacted Police, who opened an investigation and took statements from those involved.

Of course, this explanation is far more concise (and makes more sense) than anything I've read in the media. I've seen all of these pieces in stories... but not put together in a rational manner like this. As I said in my post, there is no good overview of this story out there and, I am sorry, but it's really hard to follow the threads of this through the FJ forums. I love the site, but it's just not set up to handle the torrent of information that comes out with a bombshell like this.

So, thanks for the summation, VelociRapture.

[jilly_muffin_dilly]

I don't know if anyone has posted this yet but CNN has picked it up. At least on tv they have. It is on right now.